Waiting in Kampala

I picked up my daughter Holly last Saturday at the Entebbe airport and we spent much of the week exploring Kampala. I’ve only experienced the jam-packed, noisy, hot, and dirty parts in the past but with more days of exploration we found wonderful restaurants and cafes on shaded patios and great performances. We tracked down almost all the art galleries in Kampala. The best performance was at the Ndere cultural center where three dance troupes from Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi performed with traditional music. There were string instruments, a xylophone, and lots of drums. The dances from each country were very different. The Rwandans were tall, slender, and their movements were sinuous. The Burundi men carried huge drums on their heads and were able to drum and dance while carrying them- it was the kind of performance that makes you gasp. The Uganda dancers did quite an astounding amount of shaking (especially bums). My son Max was supposed to get in the night of the 21st but had the misfortune of flying through Frankfurt. His first alarming email suggested he’d be in on the 26th at the earliest as thousands of travelers were in lines that were 6 city blocks long waiting for bookings. He met a woman with 2 small children who had been in the airport for 5 days and saw multiple episodes of police being called to break up scuffles between passengers vying for places in line and escalating arguments between airline staff and passengers (he said the staff always won). In what seemed like an amazing stroke of luck, he arrived via Addis Ababa only a day late. So we have made our way to Mbarara and then to Lake Bunyonyi. It is Christmas morning, sunny and in the mid 70’s; I am on the deck of our furnished tent looking out onto the lake and listening to birdsongs and the occasional wafting Christmas carol. The photos are of Father Christmas and two dancers. Happy holidays to all!

Morning walk to the health center

Mornings are my favorite part of the day here. I love my morning basin bath, which is always warm no matter how long I have to wait to heat the water. It is almost always sunny in the morning with the drenching rains coming mid-day. The kilometer walk to the Ruhiira health center is all downhill and the view looks out onto the hills and valleys beyond. Often the clouds look like they’re resting in the valley. There are not a lot of birds in Ruhiira as the hills have been deforested by need for firewood, but the birds that are here are beautiful. There’s an iridescent blue bird called a sunbird that resembles a hummingbird and a lovely bright yellow bird with black wings that I haven’t identified (My copy of “Birds of East Africa” is on its way from Amazon). One day a small funnel wind lifted a dried matoke leaf many feet in the air and it twirled around for minutes as I walked down the hill before being deposited back in the same garden. There are usually women of all ages hoeing in their fields and matoke plots, many with babies strapped to their backs. On Second Eid, a public holiday here, there were about 40 people kneeling in rows on cloths laid out in a field by the road, men in front and women in back, chanting prayers. One day bunches of children gathered around me as I walked, never passing me but keeping time with my walking. I tried brief runs, abrupt stops, and backward trots- I'm not sure if they knew the game but they didn’t miss a beat. The photos are of health workers walking towards the health center and some children who accompanied me one day.

Richard's Wedding

There were 3 office weddings on the same day last weekend. A few people managed to hit all 3. My housemates and I arrived in a caravan of boda-bodas at the church for Richard and Hellen’s wedding about 20 minutes late. When we saw a crowd gathered in front the church, it appeared we

had missed it. But no- when I walked up to take a photo of the wedding party I realized I didn’t recognize the groom. It was an earlier wedding so we were in time. Then several coworkers arrived and suggested we go to another wedding in a different location and come back ‘when the wedding warmed up’. So we got in a car, drove to a different wedding, stayed long enough to see the final vows (this wedding had been scheduled to start 3 ½ hours prior), and returned to the first church. We entered the church as it appeared we were just in time but no- we were told ‘not yet’ as it was another wedding party. Richard’s wedding finally did start about 2 hours late. (I’m not sure in how many countries you would show up late for the wedding, then decide to go to another wedding, and still be on time to see the vows). A reception followed at a beautiful out door ‘reception garden’. Music vacillated between traditional Ugandan music and American country western. There were traditional dancers for entertainment, great food, and lots of beer. There were long, long speeches starting with a testimonial from Hellen’s employer. Despite the employer saying 4 times that she was keeping the speech brief, the master of ceremonies told her an equal number of times to stop talking (it didn’t seem to shorten the speech). The speeches continued with Richard’s employer, a political leader, and Anglican Church leaders before the queue reached the multiple family members on either side. I am going to try to convince one of my children to import one wonderful part of the tradition, when and if they get married, called ‘receiving the gifts’. After the wedding party dances into place, each of the guests dances up to the bride and groom to give their gifts (and yes, we muzungos danced forward).

Grasshoppers and Eggs

In Runyankole, one of the words for November means ‘month when the grasshoppers come’. People look forward to this because some people make a lot of money catching them and most people like to eat them. Although some people catch them in long grass, the biggest operations use a technique at night time in which there are very bright lights to lure the grasshoppers, smoke to spatially disorient them, large metal sheets used as funnels, and big cans to catch them once they’ve hit the sheets and fallen. The grasshoppers are sold in the market and on the street. This morning, our groundskeeper Gerevase brought us a gift of a cup of grasshoppers. He had done the work of plucking the legs and wings from them. (For the squeamish, try not to picture the fact that the grasshoppers are still alive.) They are then fried slowly- no oil as they have their own- and salted. We briefly debated whether to incorporate them into the omelet or have them separately- the person who strongly wanted them separate won. They are crispy and salty and delicious. For those who find it hard to imagine eating them, note that Ugandans here think that crayfish I bought from a lake we visited, potatoes with skins, and eggs sunny side up are disgusting. I like that the images look like a cooking show and think that the PCC should insist Amee bring them to the next luncheon!

Ssese Islands

Housemates and I took a trip to the Ssese Islands in Lake Victoria. The distance seemed so manageable- but maps can be deceiving. Getting there took 8+ hours and required a walk in the rain, a bus ride, a ‘special hire’ (similar to our taxis but unlicensed), a 45 minute ferry ride to the largest island, and a ride on the back of a matoke truck. Each episode of movement, of course, was preceded by long waits, discussions, and negotiations. The truck- in addition to having a beautiful view and being cheap, dirty, and uncomfortable- had a problem with the starter so that every time it stopped (which it did frequently to unload matoke, cornmeal, or metal doors) it wouldn’t start until the men on board jumped off and pushed it (forwards or backwards depending on the slope of the hill) until the driver could pop the clutch. My housemates did some of the pushing to the delight and hilarity of the other passengers. The 20 km ride took 90 minutes and we arrived after dark at the hotel. The following morning we awoke to a beautiful vista of Lake Victoria and the sounds of many unfamiliar tropical birds. A steep walk to the beach went through rain forest with monkeys and more birds… and then it was back to the 8+ hour trek back. We substituted a special hire for the truck but it didn’t shorten the trip. Before leaving home we had agreed that the trip itself might be the highlight as there was a subtle indication in the guidebook that it wouldn't be straightforward. Highlight, frustrating, exhausting, and fun would be accurate.